First published 2024
Jessica Buchanan sits in the Somali desert, a captive of pirates demanding 45 million dollars for her release. Taken at gunpoint during a routine mission for her NGO, she endures 93 days of torture, starvation, and deplorable conditions. But in the depths of her ordeal, Jessica makes a startling discovery about herself. The forced deprivation reveals her lifelong struggle with disordered eating. She realizes she has been holding herself hostage with food for years. As ransom negotiations fail and her captors withhold meals as punishment, Jessica commits to examining her relationship with nourishment and her body. When SEAL Team VI rescues her on President Obama's orders in January 2012, Jessica carries this commitment home. She assembles nineteen women to share their stories of mental health disorders, chronic illness, eating struggles, sexual identity, and body reclamation. Together, they create a guide for women seeking self-compassion through radical acceptance of themselves.
Genres: mental-health, abuse, autobiography, non-fiction, biography-memoir, 21st-century, personal-development, africa
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, self-discovery
Setting: Somali Desert
Period: 2012
364 pages · Paperback · Soul Speak Press
Content warnings: abuse, eating-disorder, mental-illness